Altered
by Wermo
Summary: Amanda wakes up with Nate in his bed, but only remembers hating him and knocking him out a little over a week ago. Originally meant to be a ficlet for Amanda's Shorts, this story will quite probably have follow ups but none yet planned. Rated T.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: It starts off weird, but trust me, I'm going somewhere with this.**

Amanda woke up feeling unusually bleary eyed. She closed her mouth and found a terrible taste in there, dry and dusty feeling. Even in the foggy state of her mind she was surprised by this because she never slept with her mouth open and almost always woke up thoroughly refreshed. She wondered briefly at the time, since she'd woken up on her own, and realized with a start she wasn't in her room. She shrieked when she saw a brown haired head on the pillow beside her. It was turned away from her but she sorely suspected who it might belong to.

"Nate?"

He let out a big yawn and slowly turned toward her, "What's up sweetie?" It was Nate, and he seemed to be topless. Worse still, she was too.

"What the hell happened? Where am I?" She practically yelled her questions as she sat up rigidly, covering herself in the process. She didn't remember even seeing Nate yesterday. In fact, the last time she'd seen him, she'd punched him out cold, and that had been over a week ago. Hadn't it? Had that all been a dream somehow?

His smile – or should she think it more of a leer – vanished suddenly. His eyes looked pretty fresh compared to hers. She continued blinking to clear hers. "Wasn't it good for you?"

Her mind screamed at her and she mimicked it by yelling at him, "How did I get here? Did you rape me you bastard?" She started scooting away from him but noticed she was completely naked in the process. _Maybe he had_ was the only thought that popped into her head. Strangely tears weren't coming to her eyes as she would have thought – only unbridled fury. She wanted to punch, kick, and bite this… She growled in anger and frustration as she got completely out of bed.

Predictably his eyes were all over her in a matter of seconds. "The first time's always rough," said Nate. "You wanna try again already? That's a good sign." He started to get up.

"I want my clothes you," she screamed a frustrated yell to replace the string of swear words she would have used instead. She turned ninety degrees to prevent a head on view but also to keep an eye on him. At least that way she was able to partially cover herself.

Nate was on his knees on his bed when the cover fell off him. He thankfully was wearing boxers. To think she'd liked him even a little bit, the monster! "I know you hit your head last night but I didn't think you'd forget about us…" he ventured casually. "Calm down babe."

This didn't fit any of her memories. "When did I hit my head?" she asked nonetheless.

His leer returned. "When you were begging me to take you on the dance floor."

She gave him a nasty look.

He finished, "You slipped on some guy's beer and hit your head." He sighed, then sat back down, his eyes even going to hers for more than a few seconds. "I had to carry you and since I live a lot closer than your house – and you were unconscious – I brought you here."

Her head did not hurt, but just in case she used her hands to check for bumps or sore spots all over her scalp. She didn't feel anything. "I don't believe you," she said, the fire draining from her.

"Why not?" he asked softly, seemingly hurt.

She vividly remembered hating Nate when she'd learned that Cassidy and Kyle were brothers, and when Kyle had been tasered by his own brother. It had happened a week ago, she was certain.

"Grace Kingsley," she said.

To his credit he almost didn't flinch. She'd caught him. "Who's she?"

She wasn't going to play with him. "Give me my clothes please."

He sighed heavily. "Okay," he said. He bent over his side of the bed and came up with her clothes neatly folded, with her underwear at the top. He swung the pile around quickly, intentionally making her panties fall on the bed right beside him. "Oops."

There was no way she was going to let him get to her anymore though. She put on the clothes he had given her and resolutely refused to approach him so she just put on her jeans without the underwear. Not particularly comfortable to be going commando but she wasn't going to let him ogle or cajole her any more than he already had.

Nate stayed in the bed and only said, "See ya," as she left the bedroom and then the apartment, which was not the same apartment she was accustomed to, the one which she had visited with Jessi and where she had punched him. Did Nate have more than one place to live or had she dreamt or imagined everything as he implied?

Within minutes she was out the front door, wondering where she was exactly. Nate didn't seem to be following but she also didn't have her cell phone, which was peculiar to begin with. She also had no money, no change, nothing. With a deep breath, she turned left toward the nearest intersection, although it seemed to be a residential one, not very busy at all. When she got there she read the names of the intersecting streets and didn't recognize either. Looking around she chose the busiest intersection and walked toward it briskly.

Amanda might have seemed like a helpless goody girl, but she had some sense of direction with a healthy dose of determination.

The clouds overhead though looked like they wanted to start pouring on her. She sighed as she thought of the typical Seattle weather. It was always raining!

As she walked she scratched the back of her head a few times, never really thinking about it until she remembered what Nate had said, that she had fallen and hit her head. As she scratched she thought she felt the smallest bald patch on her head. It was a little hard to tell because she had quite a bit of hair and it was very thick. When she got home she'd get someone to look at it.

Sure enough, as she read the sign for the busy street she recognized it. However, it was in western Seattle, and wasn't particularly close to her house or to anyone else's she knew well. As the rain started to fall, very hard but thankfully warm from the Pacific, she continued undeterred.

It would take a full hour and then some to get home but she finally made it. It never even tried to stop raining.

She grasped the handle to the front door and found it locked. Not seeing the family car in the driveway, and without a key, Amanda went next door to the Tragers. It didn't look promising either as Josh's car wasn't there and neither was the family car but she tried anyway.

She normally would have tried Kyle's bedroom window but she had been told more than a few times not to and kind of – well not really – felt bad for going against Kyle's parents' wishes.

She still loved Kyle, even though he maddened her sometimes. He was the reason she'd even hooked up with Nate: to get him jealous.

Amanda was sure she'd never slept with Nate intentionally, and if there was any truth to their _having a good time_, she was sure she'd been raped. It was still only an abstract thought because she didn't really believe it. Chuckling nervously to herself as she waited at the Tragers' front door, soaked to the skin, and not even worried about the chafing sensations she long ago stopped feeling, she started shivering, despite the warmth of the rain.

The door opened and it was none other than Jessi, the neighbor she could barely stand to be around. Even when Jessi was being nice, she typically poked fun at her or made her feel insignificant. True, she had handled Nate as though he'd been a rag doll, but hadn't she also punched him out? Well, on second thought, she'd only been able to do that because he'd only been rousing from unconsciousness at Jessi's hands.

She tried valiantly to present a confident smile to her rival, and was about to ask about Kyle when Jessi's eyes opened wide and she was hurriedly pulled into the house and hugged tightly. "Where have you been?" asked Jessi.

Amanda was so taken aback by the unusually friendly gesture that she couldn't speak.

Jessi quickly noticed how wet she was and let go of her, "Come with me," before pulling her along with an iron grip. Amanda knew where Jessi's room was naturally, having been invited numerous times over the years to sleepovers with Lori well before Kyle and Jessi came to live there. What did surprise her was a photo realistic panorama of pictures of Kyle all over one wall once she was inside her bedroom. Still unsure of what reality was versus possible delusion or dream (or drug), she didn't comment negatively on any of the pictures.

Instead she said, "Your drawings are beautiful Jessi."

She saw Jessi hesitate and clench her jaw for just a second, but then Jessi turned and smiled. "Thanks," she whispered. Once the moment of indecision was over however, she said, "Take off your clothes."

Amanda couldn't help giggling uncomfortably at the awkward moment. She didn't take off any of her clothes but said, "I have no underwear."

"Amanda," Jessi said sternly, somehow unsettlingly halting her fit of giggles, "where have you been?"

Amanda swallowed, and pushed aside a thick strand of wet hair from her face. "With Nate, I think." Jessi stared at her curiously before she felt compelled to continue, "I think he drugged me."

Jessi's right hand was on her wet head in the blink of an eye, well before she could have reacted. The back of her head was itching again so she went to scratch it. Jessi's left hand took hold of her hand just as rapidly as before and held it mere inches from the irritating itch. "Don't scratch that," Jessi said quickly.

Amanda relaxed only a little and felt a light tingle at the back of her head.

Jessi sighed and released her, saying, "There, it's been fried." She immediately cut off what Amanda was going to ask with, "You've been gone exactly one year, to the day."

Amanda smiled, "Ha ha, Jessi, funny." She took off her wet shirt.

Jessi mumbled something about a towel and scurried away. When she returned with a towel and a mirror, her expression was dead serious. Jessi lifted the hand mirror to the perfect height for Amanda to glance at her reflection.

Amanda couldn't keep the gasp from escaping her lips. She didn't look like herself. She turned her gaze to Jessi and opened her mouth, unable to speak.

Jessi's face seemed to be full of compassion. "Your mom, Kyle, and the rest of the family are at a candlelit vigil, praying for your safe return."

"And you're here because…" Amanda trailed off.

Jessi's gaze hardened. "I've always taken a more hands on approach in trying to find you." By now Amanda had shed all her clothes and was being thoroughly dried by Jessi and the oversized purple towel she held. Jessi put a hand to Amanda's side and closed her eyes. Within moments the numerous places that had chafed and the few that had even bled on the inside of her jeans vanished. Jessi swallowed hard and looked up into her eyes but stayed silent. She cleared her throat and pulled out a few extra clothes. "These might not fit you great but you've grown a bit so your stuff might not fit you well either. Get dressed."

With those words she left her alone. As Amanda put on the clothes – Jessi was right, they didn't fit right, not surprisingly – she stared at the many pictures on the wall. She turned her head toward the far wall and saw a stranger sight in that corner. There was a huge stack of pictures on the small desk. They read, "Missing, dear neighbor and friend, Amanda Bloom," followed by her statistics and a number of other things. What most caught her eye was that it read she had disappeared during a work shift at the Rack, with obvious hints of a struggle.

Jessi returned and saw her at the stack of pictures. "Kyle's not been the same since then you know."

Amanda faced her with a grim smile, "I don't think you've been the same either. I don't remember any of this."

Jessi looked at her curiously, with her head at an angle. "What's the last thing you remember?"

She shrugged. "Not much. I remember us reading about Grace Kingsley at Nate's apartment and punching him after you handled him…" She trailed off when Jessi looked uncomfortable. "What's wrong?"

"That was two years and one week ago." It was then she noticed that Jessi looked much older than she remembered. More chiseled, like granite or marble.

She stared at the pictures of Kyle on the wall and saw that many of them too showed a much older, wiser Kyle, but also a much sadder one.

If felt good to be in dry clothes, even if they didn't fit.

Suddenly Jessi was lit with an inner fire. "Show me where you came from just now!"

"Ok."

Jessi pulled out a motorcycle from the garage and they wore weatherproof clothing. Amanda's was particularly baggy. Jessi explained with a single word, "Kyle's."

Amanda held tightly to Jessi, who drove safely and yet like an absolute maniac. They quickly got to the apartment building where she had been and luckily she recalled the floor she'd been on.

Of course the inner door was locked, but Jessi pulled out a small metal object and within a second opened the door.

"Did you just –" Amanda started.

"Yes, shhh." Jessi smiled, a finger to her lips.

_Was there nothing this girl could do_, Amanda thought. As they climbed the elevator Jessi pulled out another instrument and punched a quick flurry of keys before putting it back into her pocket. Amanda looked at her quizzically. "Had to tell Kyle," Jessi muttered with a smile. The elevator hadn't even stopped yet when Jessi again pulled out the same instrument, glanced at it, and put it away.

When the doors opened Amanda pointed to the door to Nate's apartment. "Nine sixteen," she said.

Jessi looked down the hall to both sides and within a moment opened the door. "Stay back," she whispered as she took several steps inside. She returned quickly, "You're sure this was it?"

"Absolutely, why?" Amanda tried to peek but was stopped by Jessi.

Jessi held her back and looked intently at the door knob, then across the room. Without looking her way, Jessi grabbed her hand in a soft yet solid grip. It was so strange to be around this gentle yet intense Jessi. "Show me where you were." When they got to the room, Amanda noticed it was completely bare. At least the walls were still the same color.

"There was a large bed here," she said. "And on that wall was a picture of an hourglass but tilted to the side."

"As in 45 degrees?" Jessi quickly said. All of a sudden Jessi growled in frustration and turned to her. She put her hands to her head and said, "Relax, this won't hurt at all. I have to see it for myself, that's all." She exhaled noisily. "Remember that picture. Picture it in your mind."

Suddenly she stood beside Jessi, looking at the picture on the wall. A stationary Nate was in the bed leering at an immobile – and naked – version of herself. Jessi glanced hurriedly around the room then stepped out into the small kitchen and living room. She muttered something she didn't quite catch. "What did you say?"

Jessi repeated herself, "The details are blurry, sketchy. Were you feeling all right?"

"At the time? Not really. I felt very tired."

Jessi again looked at her very curiously and soon walked briskly back into the bedroom. She stood directly in front of the naked Amanda. She peered closely at her, and looked back to Amanda. "It seems you remembered how you looked like two years ago," Jessi whispered just loud enough for her to hear it.

"How are we even doing this?" Amanda asked suddenly. It only now occurred to her they were looking at her memory of that morning.

She waved the question away. "Never mind, I'll explain that when we're back home." Jessi inhaled a deep breath, "Okay, I'm done."

The bare bedroom materialized around them once more.

Amanda pinched herself, "I must still be dreaming."

"Trust me, you're not. Hold on!" she shouted suddenly.

Jessi bolted toward the front door of the apartment which was opened by a strong kick of armed masked men. They had huge scary guns. Amanda couldn't help but scream when streams of bullets were shot toward them. As the three men fell – somehow, she had no clue how – she thought this had to be a dream, a nightmare or something. Somehow they were still standing and these men were not. "Blood," she whispered as Jessi grabbed her hand and pulled her along toward the elevator.

She felt herself faint as her vision clouded. The last phrase she overheard as she fell, into Jessi's arms, was, "When will they ever learn? These men probably had families…"

***

When she came to, the face she saw was at first blurry then got clearer and clearer until she noticed who it was.

"Kyle?"

Kyle nodded, smiling, crying, and looking more exuberant than she'd ever seen him. Behind him she saw Lori, Josh, Andy, Declan, Stephen, and Nicole. Behind everyone Jessi leaned against the counter with tears in her eyes. All of them looked older but happy as all hell. It was then she noticed someone was hugging her. She turned her head and saw her mom, who looked much older. Tears flowed freely from her mother's eyes.

She didn't understand how she was even alive or why she didn't remember anything for the past year – or actually two – but at least she knew this was no dream, and that she was safe once more.

Her right hand flinched as it tried to remember what the chip in her head had wanted it to do. Kyle's gaze fluttered for the smallest moment to that hand and held it in his own. He looked so different, so powerful.

All she could think of was kissing Kyle, but with so many people around, and with Jessi there too, it didn't feel right anyway. Jessi and Kyle might be married for all she knew.

Whatever the case was, she'd live with it and be happy.

"Welcome home Amanda," said Kyle.

Sniffles and cheers lasted long into the night. So many things were explained to her that night, by Jessi, then by Kyle, things that made little sense at first but more and more sense as time wore on.

When she went to sleep that night, at four in the morning, as she closed her eyes she saw a flash of light. She heard a disembodied voice say, "If we can't kill him directly, we'll kill him with his heart." The sound of drilling could be heard and loud, shrill screams. The screams came from her younger self, she now realized. It was the reason she didn't remember anything. She'd blocked it out.

When she opened her eyes she was not surprised to see both Kyle and Jessi in the bedroom with her.

She turned to Kyle, tears still fresh in her eyes, "I was meant to kill you."

Jessi nodded, "Had you scratched that itch you would have blown up the house."

Amanda couldn't help but gasp at this news.

Kyle shook his head sadly. "You would have died, but Jessi would have lived."

"Kyle would have too, if he'd have found you first," Jessi said.

"Really? How?" She could scarcely believe it, and yet, that afternoon…

"If three AK47 machine guns can't stop us, why would a little firebomb do the job?" Jessi asked.

"I don't understand. Is it still inside me?"

"Oh no," Kyle said emphatically. "Jessi burned the bomb to a crisp and absorbed the residue through your skin to prevent infection." He stopped and turned to Jessi. He beamed at her, "Good thinking by the way."

Jessi beamed back, "Thanks," she muttered shyly.

After several moments of silence, Amanda yawned. "So, are you two going to be sticking around all night?"

Kyle shook his head, "No, but we did go a little too fast in your memories and made you have that nightmare."

"I apologize," Jessi said.

"I contributed too," he said.

"You were in my memories while I was asleep?" She wasn't exactly wearing her old flannel pajamas but some silky little things that she sometimes liked to wear. She was a little embarrassed.

Jessi said, "You won't feel a thing."

Kyle added, "You'll remember everything in the morning."

Jessi and Kyle said together, word for word, "Then we'll go after the bastards who abducted you and took you from us – and your mother – and make them forget a couple years of their lives and see how they like it."

For some strange reason, Amanda smiled at that. It might have troubled her past self, the rage, the vengeance, but now, having lost so much, it just felt right.

THE END


	2. Chapter 2

When Amanda woke from her long sleep, only one sentence rang in her head. She recognized her voice saying, "I will kill Kyle." The voice may have been hers but felt as cold as the grave, emotionless.

As her eyes opened with a start, gooseflesh appeared all over her arms and legs. She could have almost sworn some even appeared on her nose. "Just a dream," she muttered to herself in an attempt to clear her head. _It must be a dream,_ she thought.

She sat bolt upright only to be bathed in bright sunshine, the curtain open wide and her bedroom window open wide. Otherwise, everything seemed normal and quiet. "Mom," she called hesitantly. At her weak call a flurry of footsteps hurried up the stairs and her bedroom door opened without a knock. This might have bothered her in the past but didn't just now.

Amanda did blink her eyes twice when she saw Jessi at the door instead of her mother. In a rush she covered herself but recalled that Jessi and Kyle had both been in her room last night. Nonetheless she kept the covers up.

"You're awake," Jessi said. "How do you feel?"

Strange images started appearing to her mind's eye just then, taking her by surprise. None of it made much sense – mainly because they were only images and no sound accompanied them – but she knew from what she saw that she didn't particularly care for Jessi normally. In stark contrast, she felt completely at ease around her at the moment. She took presumably too long to answer the simple question and Jessi came forward in a flash, her hand outstretched.

Without thought Amanda swivelled in place and avoided the hand intended for her forehead and instead grabbed it with a hand of her own. When Jessi gave her hand a peculiar look she casually dropped it. Jessi's eyes bore into her, seemingly to her core. The small hairs at the back of her neck stood rigid thanks to more gooseflesh.

Jessi's mouth opened for a few moments before closing resolutely.

Amanda tried in vain to smile and instead dejectedly said, "I feel confused."

"How much do you remember," Jessi asked, her arms crossed.

Amanda, who had never been one to lash out unprovoked, said, "I remember hating you."

Jessi's lips straightened and she uncrossed her arms. "The feeling was mutual…"

"But?"

Jessi's expression changed to something Amanda couldn't read. It looked at once sad and happy. "At first I missed picking on you, insulting you, getting on your nerves about Kyle," Jessi said softly. "It didn't take very long before I noticed what your absence did to Kyle though; that's what's changed for me."

Amanda perked up at the mention of Kyle. It somewhat surprised her he wasn't here as well. "Where is he?"

Jessi smiled broadly. "He's been told by your mother to let you shower and eat before he can harass you."

Amanda's smile matched Jessi's for once. "And he listened didn't he?"

"You bet." She sighed suddenly, catching Amanda a little off guard. Amanda's right hand had tightened into a fist, the fingers strangling the thick sheet she was holding to cover her chest. Amanda tried to hide her reaction from Jessi but noticed in vain that Jessi's eyes were all over it. Amanda tried to smile sheepishly and laugh as she pulled her hand out of the sheet but nothing came out; her mouth was dry.

Unless one counted more gooseflesh of course; a shiver passed through her at Jessi's gaze.

Jessi, to her credit, did not move back. It seemed as though her mouth had been open the whole time. Whether what she said now finished her original thought, Amanda couldn't know. "He's docile again."

Amanda found that to be a most peculiar response. Kyle had always been docile, to the point where she'd occasionally thought he was too good to be true. And yet, just thinking about him made everything seem right in the world. For the moment she ignored the possibility that Kyle had changed in her absence. She wanted something else cleared up instead. "I remember screaming, a lot." She took a deep breath. "But I don't remember why. Did you find that out while I slept?" Not that she fully understood what Kyle and Jessi could do but if deflecting streams of bullets in mid air or frying a computer chip in her scalp were easy, why couldn't they just rip the truth out of her head?

Jessi, without asking, sat at the foot of the bed and her expression straightened. "Well," Jessi paused, perhaps thinking of the best way to say it. At least that was Amanda's impression. "We didn't go quite as far as we had promised." She lifted her hand in a calming gesture. "I told him to stop."

Amanda's curiosity was piqued. "Why?" She felt certain the gooseflesh was just waiting to take over her body one more time. Never had that happened prior to this morning; at least, not that she remembered.

"I thought we might be hurting you. Don't worry though; soon you'll have all your memories." Jessi got up and walked to the door. "Get dressed and come downstairs. Breakfast was ready a while ago."

Amanda got up and scratched at the back of her head, where the chip had been. She suddenly had a huge shiver go through her body accompanied by more gooseflesh. Amanda wondered briefly, as she dressed, why she felt Jessi was lying to her. Was it simply their past distrust and near mutual hate talking? It was obvious Jessi was a changed woman.

Maybe they could even be friends.

At that thought a number of memories swirled into focus, at once distracting her and confusing her further. After they had passed, Amanda's thoughts wandered back to Kyle's blue eyes and how different he'd looked when she'd awakened and seen him just yesterday. She had a difficult time grasping the loss of time, the gap in her memories. Most of what she remembered seemed to be from the year prior to getting kidnapped.

Of the few that were post kidnapping, the most disturbing – after her ceaseless screams – were her memories of being stuck with hundreds of needles, all at once while attached to some massive machine. Other than for her face and her throat, she'd been paralyzed. She vividly remembered screaming for help until she no longer even recognize her own voice. She'd been in a completely white room, with no discernable features.

A disembodied voice had said, certainly to another and not to her, "Don't let it get to you mate. This one was a volunteer."

She shook off the distasteful memory with a forceful shake of her head. As she closed her bedroom door she never noticed the doorknob had been bent all out of shape.

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in posting a follow-up chapter to this story. I am going to try to stay within the mystery genre by always staying from Amanda's point of view and never from anyone else's. There is a lot to tell and I know this one was short. Mysteries will be revealed and misinformation may run rampant.**


	3. Chapter 3

Amanda discovered she wasn't so hungry as she was thirsty and drank three full glasses of milk before munching on the two blueberry waffles and the tomato sandwich Jessi had made. "This is very good Jessi," she said near the end of the meal.

Jessi smiled a small smile and shrugged. "I'm happy you're back."

When she finished the food her mother uncharacteristically took the few dishes from her and started to wash them. "Go on dear, play with your friends," she said without a backward glance.

Amanda was about to say something to her mother when Jessi grabbed her by the arm and drew her outside. Jessi said with a disapproving look at her outfit, "Lori and I will have to help you with some shopping. Your clothes are very two years ago." She snickered and poked Amanda in the shoulder .

This was a much more normal Jessi to her recollection, minus the friendly poking in the shoulder and the snickering. Amanda took a few steps toward her neighbor's house but was held back by Jessi.. "No, no, Lori is already at the mall and they're waiting for us as we speak!"

"I want to see Kyle," said Amanda somewhat plaintively, even to her own ears.

"He's not there right now anyway; he's at work." She stole a glance at the house with an odd look in her eye. "You'll see him soon enough."

This time they rode in Amanda's mother's car; it surprised her that Jessi was carrying the keys. "How?" Amanda said, startled.

"Carol almost threw me the keys and the money to change your look." She laughed out loud, giving Amanda pause. "Get in the car," Jessi prompted by clicking the button to unlock the doors and running to the driver's door.

Amanda put her hand on the door handle and opened the door but never so much as put her foot in. Instead, on a hunch, she bolted towards Kyle's bedroom window, her shoes almost soundlessly pounding into the lush grass on her neighbor's front yard. Jessi didn't seem to be actively pursuing her when she glanced back halfway to the window but the front door opened with Mrs. Trager at the door seemingly both smiling and scowling at the same time.

Just as Amanda peered through Kyle's window she saw a wall full of computer equipment on one wall and his tub still in the center of the room. Against the far wall were dozens of pictures with the title 'Missing' and 'Reward' and all of these bore prominent pictures of her smiling face.

"He's at work, Amanda," said Nicole from the step in front of the door. "Do, do you want to talk about something maybe?"

Amanda felt she needed to enter the room but with both Nicole and Jessi standing so close – and watching her besides – she didn't feel it was a good idea. In any case, Kyle didn't seem to be in the room like they said.

"We're on the way to the mall, mom, to meet up with Lori and the gang," said Jessi.

"Well, don't let me interrupt your plans, go ahead," said Nicole, waving her hands in front of her while shaking her head. Nonetheless she stared at Amanda and said, "If you ever feel you need to talk Amanda, my door is always open." She stayed on the doorstep watching as Jessi approached and beckoned Amanda to come with her.

When they were both in the car and on the road, Jessi said, "I know why you did that. We couldn't stand each other two years ago, for good reason." Then Jessi laughed again, a laugh that felt forced to Amanda. It felt mad, like crazy mad.

"Where does Kyle work?" asked Amanda. Perhaps she'd greet him herself after this ordeal with the girls was over.

Jessi swerved in and out of traffic with catlike grace but never answered her question. She instead prattled on about how much fun they'd have at the mall. Amanda was sure everyone but she would have fun. She only wanted to see Kyle; she crossed her arms while she waited, not fully trusting Jessi despite the help she'd had yesterday from her old rival.

By the end of the trip, Amanda felt she was maybe a little hard on Jessi and felt bad as a result. She was about to apologize until she saw the crowd of people waiting for her. Her jaw dropped as she recognized a large number of them from school. News stations' vans were off to one side but no one seemed to pay attention to their approach.

"Media circus," Jessi mumbled.

Amanda's fists had balled tightly on her lap. She asked Jessi, "We're not stopping here?"

Jessi turned to her with a look of shock. "Why would I do that?" she said and drove carefully around the crowd. "We're here to shop!"

Amanda found herself smiling at the prospect of shopping despite her previous misgivings. She had grown some during her absence – she didn't know what to think of that yet – and the idea of new clothes did appeal to her on some level. She'd just thought there would be a media circus if people suddenly started recognizing her in public.

Somehow, bullet deflector girl here could also avert a crowd's attention. _What couldn't she do_, she wondered.

Once inside Jessi started bouncing and hopping beside her, almost as if she was shouting, "I am happy!" It went contrary to everything Amanda remembered about the girl, especially when they were in each other's company. Jessi hopped with purpose and after a few turns and once they had ridden the escalator to the second floor, they found Lori, Hillary, Declan, and an older man in the far back of a dollar store.

The older man introduced himself as Tom, "You may not remember me but I'm a friend of Kyle's and Jessi's."

Hillary interrupted the seriousness with a massive squeal and a tearful hug that Amanda endured without complaint even though Hillary had never been a particularly close friend.

Even Declan touched her shoulder for a moment and said, with some hesitation, "I'm really happy you're back."

After having heard the same comment repeatedly over twenty-four hours – and with little but a few strange dreams and even stranger images and possible memories clouding everything further – Amanda started to feel jittery and wary. She was jittery because, well, she simply didn't remember having lost two years of her life, aside from the obvious growth in herself and others. Everyone's comments kept bringing Kyle's absence to the forefront of her mind. Although it was only morning she felt she had to talk to him, if only because they had been getting pretty serious in their relationship in her final memories. Had they married and she simply didn't remember? Or worse, had they had a messy break-up? What if she and Jessi had just continued to go back and forth on poor Kyle and forced him to drop the two of them?

Not that she was going to mention this to any of these people, but Jessi's constant bouncing and seemingly limitless power made her insides quake. She wasn't sure why but maybe it was because she strongly suspected Jessi was very much like Kyle, whether they were aliens or some strange sort of evolved humans. She heaved a sigh while still in an iron grip of Hillary's hug.

It didn't surprise Amanda to see absolutely no strangers noticing or paying them any attention, despite the near hysterics from Hillary. The others were all quite subdued; maybe it was because they knew.

Gooseflesh peppered her arms just then and she shivered at the thought. Had she known too? She knew Jessi and Kyle had some spectacular powers or abilities only from yesterday's escapades but what did she really know? She stared at Jessi as Hillary finally released her to a brief hug from Lori.

Jessi, not surprisingly, noticed her glance and frowned slightly but stayed silent.

Amanda felt her imagination running wild. She only remembered various comments by her dream-self referring to Kyle and his death. Were they here when Kyle had all along been at home working on finding out exactly what was wrong with her? Had they discovered something truly nefarious, something even they couldn't counteract? What might that even be if they could deflect bullets and supposed firebombs? Amanda gasped as she vividly believed Kyle might have used the same mind trick Jessi was using on strangers to keep them unaware of their presence but on her instead.

"He was home, wasn't he?" Amanda muttered so none could hear, other than a certain super girl of course.

The look of shock and guilt from Jessi answered the question as readily as a nod or the word yes screamed out over rooftops would have. Amanda's mouth turned into a vicious grimace as she pondered trying to walk home without Jessi somehow keeping her away from Kyle. Yet, really, what could she do but remain there and play her part?

Her imagination really started going crazy when she remembered her mother nonchalantly saying, "Go on dear, play with your friends." Was her own mother in on the ruse?

Amanda was sorely tempted to just yell out loud, scream, "Here I am, Amanda Bloom!" and expose the protective blanket Jessi had over them to Hillary but what was the use of doing so? Other than surely making Jessi – who was currently pretty nice to her if overly nice and overbearing in her confidence – really mad or at least potentially so. She might still need Jessi's help quite a bit and thus decided against doing anything rash.

No, Amanda would go shopping and be a good girl, the good girl she had always been, but when the opportunity presented itself, she would take charge, no matter the cost. She only wondered how closely Jessi would be watching her. Amanda grinned, bared her teeth really, to Jessi and said, "Let's go shopping!"

Hillary let out a big whoop as predicted. At least she was still the same as she remembered. Lori also seemed to get taken in by her friend's enthusiasm. Declan and Foss shared glances periodically but otherwise seemed to be there only for show. The true protector would be Jessi and Jessi alone.

Jessi squinted in Amanda's direction, her head slightly to one side. "Come on," Amanda said with a genuine smile. Whether she could win over Jessi with her own ruse would have to be attempted here at the mall. Here she could fail and nothing would be risked.

Besides, she really needed a few new dresses.


End file.
